Jeff Koons: Howdy Doody’s Handsomer Brother?

Rhonda Lieberman’s extremely funny take on a Jeff Koons’ interview (via C-Monster) takes him at his word. Nobody does that. Everyone assumes it’s a performance. Opinions differ as to what kind of performance, but everybody thinks he’s putting us on.

Here’s Lieberman, after pointing out the striking Howdy Doody resemblance: Beneath a slide show of his oeuvre, the ex-Wall Street broker free-associated about “accepting yourself” and other self-help platitudes, compared his various luxe-kitsch pieces to the old masters, made vague remarks about “the sexual aspects” and anthropomorphism of vacuum cleaners and the (superexpensively refabricated) found objects he produces, overseeing more than 80 “in-house” employees for “efficiency.” (“My responsibility is to educate people on what I’m looking for – every moment of the day.”)

It’s easier to think he’s channeling Warhol. I prefer to believe he’s playing a never-ending version of Chance the Gardner in “Being There.” Here’s Chance: “As long as the roots are not severed, all is well. And all will be well in the garden.” Doesn’t that sound like art’s multimillion-dollar man?